I've never flown before I got this plane. It is so easy to fly and I recommend it to anyone that wants to get started with RC planes. It's very easy to put together, and can be done in less than 30 minutes. Don't even think about flying this plane in any winds higher than 10 mph. I've crashed it a few times and still haven't had to replace any parts. All you need is Gorilla glue, unless you crashed it really bad. Controls are simple enough, remote control looks a little too noob, but who cares. Overall fun plane, easy to fly and recommended to those just starting out.
Hobbyzone Stratos
- Thread starter fliteadmin
- Start date
I would agree with colorex. If possible, try a simulator. If not, a trainer cable is great way to learn too. That being said, from what I have read, the Stratos is supposed to be great for first time flyers. It's stable, durable, the landing gear comes off for grass landings, the nose is some kind of foam rubber, etc. The only thing I don't particularly like about it is that it's not DSM (or other) compatible, so you are stuck with the controller that comes with it.
Another fantastic first time plane is the HobbyZone champ. This was my first plane and it is DSM compatible so I am able to fly it with my DX6i.
Another fantastic first time plane is the HobbyZone champ. This was my first plane and it is DSM compatible so I am able to fly it with my DX6i.
kiddbanshee
Junior Member
I have to admit i stumbled on to the flitetest videos on youtube randomly, i come from rc dirtoval racing background and looked to get in to flying, i can honestly say after watching flitetest iam hooked, i love what you guys do and i learn alot about the hobby, i am a dassy fresh beginner and i recently got the firebird stratos per the review you did on it, and i LOVE!! It i recommend it to all beginners. PS love the show and hope it gets on tv, the flitetest crew is awesome keep up the good work, also id like to say that Josh Bixler is really good, but i dont think the show would work as good without Josh Scott
Welcome, kiddbanshee! You'll learn a lot here on the forums too!
kiddbanshee
Junior Member
Thank you Colorex! iam a full blow newbie but i love flying this stratos, looking forward to learning anything and everything i can, iam hooked on this hobby i feel my self wanting to fly all day if i could
Aces_High
Member
Another newb here too. Ordered my Stratos a few days ago, should be here in another day or two. Absolutely cannot wait to get flying! I injured myself in Iraq years ago, so all of my hobbies are indoor activities. The injury doesn't allow me to do a lot of the things I used to (play paintball/airsoft, run, play contact sports etc) and all of the people that I used to consider close friends decided I was no longer worth their time, so I've been a loner since I came off active duty a few years ago. But that's neither here nor there, and in any case it'll be nice to get outside and have some fun for a change. The Stratos has met all my requirements so far (affordable, recommended for beginners, includes everything needed to start). Hopefully I can save up some money and get a nice camera for it. I've also seen some videos with pontoons installed on it, so I might try that out too!
Powder7410
New member
Another newb post for you all to gloss over.
As of Friday when I bought the Stratos I was a 0 flight time, 0 simulated time RC pilot, I will make the disclaimer that I might have an unfair advantage over your average newb because I have my private pilot's license and therefore have an in depth knowledge of the mechanics relating to how the 1/1 scale planes fly. I've recently turned my attention to the RC world as my income will not meet the requirement for flying the big ones but thus far I'm loving it and looking forward to continuing to grow within the hobby.
Anyway, back to the Stratos. On my maiden flight I broke one of the cardinal rules of the learner's permit, poor flight conditions. The news called for a brisk 7-10 mph wind but upon arriving at the private field that we fly our full size plane out of, I found the windsock snapping to attention which indicates a 12-15 mph wind with gusts exceeding that. Upon seeing that I almost headed for the hanger to take myself up, as that's a very favorable wind for a 1500lb bird but I just couldn't resist the gleam of the shiny new stratos, so against everything that I have read I hand launched into the 15 mph wind. As you may have guessed I immediately lost control of the bird as the high wind carried it off into the wild blue and my inexperience couldn't cope with such conditions. At this point I have to chalk the fact that I didn't lose my bird up to the Virtual Instructor, somehow throughout the wild pitching and sporadic movement it stayed stable enough for me to recover the 1/4 mile of ground that I lost to crash a mere 50 ft from where I was standing. My second launch the same thing happened, the plane sailed away, VI kept it in the air and I made up ground only to crash right next to where I launched. At this point I was finding that the only thing that would bring the bird down was my over controlling, so with some extra throttle and minimal control input, I launched for a third time and was very happy to see the bird take off, weather vane into the wind and hold its position acting as more glider than powered airplane. In fact I found that with approximately 75% throttle and zero control input it would actually hold its position, without gaining or losing altitude and without gaining or losing ground. Despite the less than desirable conditions I found this to actually be a very helpful learning tool as I could very clearly see the effects that my control inputs produced without having to try and maintain a pattern although the end result was the same considering that it was still me controlling the airplane. Along with the virtual instructor I have to give it up to two additional features of the plane that have prevented me from having to conduct a single repair thus far, the break away wing and the foam rubber nose. I have to admit that it has been lawn darted into the ground at full throttle on several occasions at this point yet I have had to do nothing more than snap the wing back into place. So after an exhausting yet exhilarating 20 minutes I loaded up and headed home. A call to the local public airport's automated weather observation system(AWOS) told me that wind was in fact 15 mph gusting to 20 mph and my impression and satisfaction with the little plane only grew. With the battery on charge and a close eye on the wind I waited around until the evening and once the wind had died down went for another flight at a local elementary school. With this my satisfaction only grew, in little to no wind the plane flew like a dream and after a mere one lawn darting(over controlled... again), I found myself producing landing after landing and when the battery finally died at almost half an hour of run time, I immediately went home and put the landing gear on.
So on to my opinions in regards to the stratos. I have read several of the more experienced flyers criticizing it for lack of flexibility in regard to the controller and making statements as the virtual instructor does not add much benefit. As far as the controller goes, I would agree with that, it does limit you to only this bird and I will be required to 'start over' when the time comes to move on, however to me the simplicity of the system is a great benefit to beginners as the enormous amount of information and complexity of said information in regards to Tx/Rx systems can be overwhelming. In regards to the virtual instructor, as I said above, it has saved my bacon on more than one occasion thus far. I actually really like the virtual instructor as it performs control inputs that are not necessarily intuitive and only come with experience. Now many of you will say that as a pilot I should know things such as elevator will be required when banking and I do know these things(the actual law states that when an airplane banks the loss of lift is proportional to the angle of bank, a 45 degree bank results in a 50% loss of lift), the difference being that when I am flying a passenger carrier the added control input is instinctual based on my experience and in addition to that I have an instrument in front of me that tells me I am losing altitude. When relating to the RC world, I have not developed the instincts that I have when flying therefore it requires actual thought and when the time is taken to think 'bank into turn, add elevator to prevent loss of altitude' you are likely already in the spiral that will result in your demise, so features like VI that can perform given actions to prevent said demise are great tools for beginners until enough experience is gained for those actions to become instinctual. Now all that being said I do have one complaint. The control surface area is minimal, I understand this is probably on purpose to prevent rapid attitude change when over controlled but in my time spent flying in low wind I found that when flying at slow speed the controls get, to use the industry standard term, mushy. This is most apparent on landings, in particular during attempts to flare. Obviously this is probably not a big concern for most beginners but as a pilot I know that the thing we take the most pride in is our landings and when trying to achieve the best landing possible it became apparent. We'll see how she does with the gear on. I still have a lot to achieve until I am ready to upgrade, I am most guilty of what my old flight instructor termed 'icing over', essentially freezing whenever things get moving too quickly leading to things like a full throttle nose dive into a dirt nap, but I love this bird and am looking forward to the hours spent gaining experience with it and would recommend it to any beginner.
As of Friday when I bought the Stratos I was a 0 flight time, 0 simulated time RC pilot, I will make the disclaimer that I might have an unfair advantage over your average newb because I have my private pilot's license and therefore have an in depth knowledge of the mechanics relating to how the 1/1 scale planes fly. I've recently turned my attention to the RC world as my income will not meet the requirement for flying the big ones but thus far I'm loving it and looking forward to continuing to grow within the hobby.
Anyway, back to the Stratos. On my maiden flight I broke one of the cardinal rules of the learner's permit, poor flight conditions. The news called for a brisk 7-10 mph wind but upon arriving at the private field that we fly our full size plane out of, I found the windsock snapping to attention which indicates a 12-15 mph wind with gusts exceeding that. Upon seeing that I almost headed for the hanger to take myself up, as that's a very favorable wind for a 1500lb bird but I just couldn't resist the gleam of the shiny new stratos, so against everything that I have read I hand launched into the 15 mph wind. As you may have guessed I immediately lost control of the bird as the high wind carried it off into the wild blue and my inexperience couldn't cope with such conditions. At this point I have to chalk the fact that I didn't lose my bird up to the Virtual Instructor, somehow throughout the wild pitching and sporadic movement it stayed stable enough for me to recover the 1/4 mile of ground that I lost to crash a mere 50 ft from where I was standing. My second launch the same thing happened, the plane sailed away, VI kept it in the air and I made up ground only to crash right next to where I launched. At this point I was finding that the only thing that would bring the bird down was my over controlling, so with some extra throttle and minimal control input, I launched for a third time and was very happy to see the bird take off, weather vane into the wind and hold its position acting as more glider than powered airplane. In fact I found that with approximately 75% throttle and zero control input it would actually hold its position, without gaining or losing altitude and without gaining or losing ground. Despite the less than desirable conditions I found this to actually be a very helpful learning tool as I could very clearly see the effects that my control inputs produced without having to try and maintain a pattern although the end result was the same considering that it was still me controlling the airplane. Along with the virtual instructor I have to give it up to two additional features of the plane that have prevented me from having to conduct a single repair thus far, the break away wing and the foam rubber nose. I have to admit that it has been lawn darted into the ground at full throttle on several occasions at this point yet I have had to do nothing more than snap the wing back into place. So after an exhausting yet exhilarating 20 minutes I loaded up and headed home. A call to the local public airport's automated weather observation system(AWOS) told me that wind was in fact 15 mph gusting to 20 mph and my impression and satisfaction with the little plane only grew. With the battery on charge and a close eye on the wind I waited around until the evening and once the wind had died down went for another flight at a local elementary school. With this my satisfaction only grew, in little to no wind the plane flew like a dream and after a mere one lawn darting(over controlled... again), I found myself producing landing after landing and when the battery finally died at almost half an hour of run time, I immediately went home and put the landing gear on.
So on to my opinions in regards to the stratos. I have read several of the more experienced flyers criticizing it for lack of flexibility in regard to the controller and making statements as the virtual instructor does not add much benefit. As far as the controller goes, I would agree with that, it does limit you to only this bird and I will be required to 'start over' when the time comes to move on, however to me the simplicity of the system is a great benefit to beginners as the enormous amount of information and complexity of said information in regards to Tx/Rx systems can be overwhelming. In regards to the virtual instructor, as I said above, it has saved my bacon on more than one occasion thus far. I actually really like the virtual instructor as it performs control inputs that are not necessarily intuitive and only come with experience. Now many of you will say that as a pilot I should know things such as elevator will be required when banking and I do know these things(the actual law states that when an airplane banks the loss of lift is proportional to the angle of bank, a 45 degree bank results in a 50% loss of lift), the difference being that when I am flying a passenger carrier the added control input is instinctual based on my experience and in addition to that I have an instrument in front of me that tells me I am losing altitude. When relating to the RC world, I have not developed the instincts that I have when flying therefore it requires actual thought and when the time is taken to think 'bank into turn, add elevator to prevent loss of altitude' you are likely already in the spiral that will result in your demise, so features like VI that can perform given actions to prevent said demise are great tools for beginners until enough experience is gained for those actions to become instinctual. Now all that being said I do have one complaint. The control surface area is minimal, I understand this is probably on purpose to prevent rapid attitude change when over controlled but in my time spent flying in low wind I found that when flying at slow speed the controls get, to use the industry standard term, mushy. This is most apparent on landings, in particular during attempts to flare. Obviously this is probably not a big concern for most beginners but as a pilot I know that the thing we take the most pride in is our landings and when trying to achieve the best landing possible it became apparent. We'll see how she does with the gear on. I still have a lot to achieve until I am ready to upgrade, I am most guilty of what my old flight instructor termed 'icing over', essentially freezing whenever things get moving too quickly leading to things like a full throttle nose dive into a dirt nap, but I love this bird and am looking forward to the hours spent gaining experience with it and would recommend it to any beginner.
Foam Addict
Squirrel member
Good Job!
My breakthrough on flying RC aircraft was similar, as I rarely have a day where the wind is less than 20 MPH.
I had my first truly successful flight with a foamboard trainer in 25 MPH winds. I simply kept it flying 5 feet in front of me, and gradually got a better and better feel of the controls.
Having a few flights in 1:1 aircraft and sailplanes, I too appreciate the Aerodynamic aspects of Aircraft, Unfortunately, being short, the only plane I have successfully flown is an ask-21 sailplane.
Great job on your first flights! before you know it, you'll be flying 30cc Extra's in rolling circles!
My breakthrough on flying RC aircraft was similar, as I rarely have a day where the wind is less than 20 MPH.
I had my first truly successful flight with a foamboard trainer in 25 MPH winds. I simply kept it flying 5 feet in front of me, and gradually got a better and better feel of the controls.
Having a few flights in 1:1 aircraft and sailplanes, I too appreciate the Aerodynamic aspects of Aircraft, Unfortunately, being short, the only plane I have successfully flown is an ask-21 sailplane.
Great job on your first flights! before you know it, you'll be flying 30cc Extra's in rolling circles!
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